March 31, 2025

HUD and Census Bureau: New Residential Sales Report for February 2025 Issued

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential sales statistics for February 2025:

[Residential Sales Graph]

New Home Sales
Sales of new single-family houses in February 2025 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 1.8 percent (±18.6 percent)* above the revised January rate of 664,000 and is 5.1 percent (±13.9 percent)* above the February 2024 estimate of 643,000.

Sales Price
The median sales price of new houses sold in February 2025 was $414,500. This is 3.0 percent (±6.8 percent)* below the January 2025 price of $427,400, and is 1.5 percent (±6.7 percent)* below the February 2024 price of $420,900. The average sales price of new houses sold in February 2025 was $487,100. This is 4.1 percent (±7.0 percent)* below the January 2025 price of $507,900, and is 4.4 percent (±6.4 percent)* below the February 2024 price of $509,700.    

For Sale Inventory and Months’ Supply
The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of February 2025 was 500,000. This is 0.8 percent (±1.0 percent)* above the January 2025 estimate of 496,000, and is 7.5 percent (±5.4 percent) above the February 2024 estimate of 465,000. The seasonally-adjusted estimate of the number of month’s supply at the current sales rate at the end of February 2025 was 8.9 months. This is 1.1 percent (±17.1 percent)* below the January 2025 estimate of 9.0 months, and is 2.3 percent (±13.4 percent)* above the February 2024 estimate of 8.7 months.

The March report is scheduled for release on April 23, 2025. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing Room. The full text and tables for this release can be found at here.

EXPLANATORY NOTES
These statistics are estimated from sample surveys. They are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling error including bias and variance from response, nonreporting, and undercoverage. Estimated average relative standard errors of the preliminary data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as “2.5 percent (±3.2%) above” appears in the text, this indicates the range (-0.7 to +5.7 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occurred. All ranges given for percent changes are 90-percent confidence intervals and account only for sampling variability. If a range does not contain zero, the change is statistically significant. If it does contain zero, the change is not statistically significant; that is, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease. The same policies apply to the confidence intervals for percent changes shown in the tables. Changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show irregular movement. It takes 3 months to establish a trend for new houses sold. Preliminary new home sales figures are subject to revision due to the survey methodology and definitions used. The survey is primarily based on a sample of houses selected from building permits. Since a “sale” is defined as a deposit taken or sales agreement signed, this can occur prior to a permit being issued. An estimate of these prior sales is included in the sales figure. On average, the preliminary seasonally adjusted estimate of total sales is revised about 3.2 percent. Changes in sales price data reflect changes in the distribution of houses by region, size, etc., as well as changes in the prices of houses with identical characteristics. Explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability can be found at the Census Bureau’s website.

The Census Bureau has reviewed SOC monthly and quarterly tables to ensure appropriate access, use, and disclosure avoidance protection of the confidential source data (Disclosure Review Board (DRB) approval number: CBDRBFY24-0281).

API
The Census Bureau’s application programming interface lets developers create custom apps to reach new users and makes key demographic, socio-economic and housing statistics more accessible than ever before.

FRED Mobile App
Receive the latest updates on the nation’s key economic indicators by downloading the FRED App both Apple and Android devices. FRED, the signature database of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, now incorporates the Census Bureau’s 13 economic indicators.

* The 90 percent confidence interval includes zero. In such cases, there is insufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.

U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 708-0685

U.S. Census Bureau
Economic Indicators Division
(301) 763-5160

This post was originally published here.